Last week the first rumors emerged that the seven-time Formula 1 champion and his friend and world tennis star Serena Williams could invest close to 10 million pounds (about 12 million euros) each in the consortium led by the former Chairman of Liverpool F.C. and of British Airways, Martin Broughton .
Hamilton first spoke of these links on Friday at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, where he confirmed the truth of the stories. The Mercedes driver revealed that Broughton had contacted him, and had explained his vision for the club should he make the offer.
The Englishman said that Broughton ‘s values were “very much in line” with his own, and that he and Williams had spoken “on multiple occasions” since then and that the tennis player was “excited to join” the group.
Explaining his interest, Hamilton said: “This is all about the community. That’s what really makes a football team, it’s the people that are in and around it.”
“Chelsea has led the work on diversity and inclusion and has become more diverse and progressive. So it’s not like we partner with previous owners,” he continued. “Our goal is to build on some of the work they’ve already done, make an even bigger impact and engage more with the community.”
Hamilton had already declared his support for the rival club from the same city, Arsenal, but said that his love for that team was born when his sister insisted “saying that I had to support Arsenal”.
He added that he was a fan of the sport in general, so the chance to back a bid for the defending Champions League champion and FIFA Club World Cup winner was “one of the best opportunities to be a part of something so great”.
After Chelsea announced in December that they had lost £145.6m in the season ending June 2021, Hamilton said he had been assured there was a business plan in place to stem those drops: “Naturally [losing money] is never the idea of an investment.
“In the discussions we’ve had, the team plans to manage this going forward, improve it and make sure that they cut down on those losses, as well as make it a profitable organization,” he said.
“That’s going to take a lot of work. There are so many parts… I don’t have the strategy for all of that,” he said. “We haven’t won the offer yet, I’m sure all that will come later, but the team is a consortium of lifelong Chelsea fans and others who have come to it later, like me.”
“There is no one that is part of it that is in a losing mentality. I think Chelsea already have a winning mentality, but I think we can do better with the way we go forward.”
Hamilton claimed that, should his offer go ahead, he would be less involved compared to his partners while he remains on the F1 grid, but his involvement would be to enhance the club’s impact on the local community.
“There is still a lot of work to do to be more diverse and inclusive,” he said. “It’s an incredible platform to attract and educate many of the incredible fans that exist today, there are some incredible talents on the team who have stood up against discrimination and have worked very closely with the organization to move forward.”
“I know that’s very important to Chelsea fans, the community is very involved in that too,” he said.
